Mountain Mist 2020 Welcome Letter
 
Welcome to the 26th Annual Mountain Mist 50k Trail Run.  At the age of 28, I took the initiative to put together Huntsville’s first trail run. Not only was it the first trail run, it was the first race to go beyond the marathon.  26 years later, it’s one of many trail runs in Alabama but continues to be the oldest and most classic event.
 
The Mt Mist course has always been a brutal one. It has evolved over the years. The course has changed many times. Trails get re-routed and new trails are created.  The past two years, we had to work on Warpath, Powerlines and K2 just to make it visible for race day. Very few people ever run those trails, mainly because it enters TVA property and some private property, home to a hunting club. With a lot of help from Rob Youngren and Eric Fritz, I finally decided to remove those sections from the course.  We have added the Bankhead, Oak Park, Dallas Branch, Buzzards Roost and Dummy Line trails. I absolutely LOVE these new sections.  It is some of the best trails on Mt Mist course.  Enjoy them because when you get back on Old Tollgate, its back to relentless ROCKS. You will quickly start to miss the trails you just left at Oak Park.
 
Weather is always a big factor at Mt Mist. January in Alabama is very unpredictable. This year has had several warm days along with several rainy days.  Forecast calls for a much colder week and some chances of rain on race day. I think it looks pretty good. Should even dry up the trails nicely. One thing I have learned in the past 26 years is that the weather forecast is always wrong, Mt Mist controls the weather. Can’t wait to see what it gives us this year.
 
26 years ago, DeWayne Satterfield won the first ever Mountain Mist Trail Run in 3:49:27. It would be the beginning of DeWayne running 25 straight years of Mt Mist. DeWayne did not just finish the races; he won it 9 times over all. But that’s not all he also has completed the course in sub- 5 hours 23 times.  When he turned 40 years old and became a master, he not only did he win the Masters title in 4:07:33, he won the race overall. He went on to win 7 Masters titles, only finishing 2nd three times to David Rindt, the only master runner to ever finish ahead of Dewayne.  When he became a Grand Master, he won a perfect 5 for 5 Grand Master titles including 4th overall at age 52 in 4:37:53. DeWayne has left his legacy of the Mountain Mist Trail Run behind this year.  After running the Grind Stone 100 miler on October 4, 2019, DeWayne said he just did not feel like himself. He was just not recovering.  After trips to the Doctor and eventually landing in the hospital, He discovered he had a rare type of cancer in his heart, only a few cases in the US. DeWayne is currently in the hospital with no chance of running this year’s Mt Mist. Of course I am devastated. DeWayne is battling to live and it just hurts me. He will still have BIB #1 this year. Our plan is to have DeWayne’s #1 carried from the start by David Riddle. David will leave the number at Aid Station 1 and someone else will take it from there to #2 and so on. At the final Aid station, Lonnie Vogan will pick up DeWayne’s number and finish his 26th Mt Mist.
 
I hope everyone did there training and are prepared to finish the Mt Mist Trail Run this year. Last year, 379 runners made it to the finish. I am still hoping that number can be higher.  If we don’t finish more than 379, I won’t be surprised. This course has a way of destroying trail runners. No one is ever let down, just shut down, beaten up, broken and left bleeding. Good luck out there.

START TIME

The race will start at 7:30a.m. (CST) sharp! Race course officially closes at 4:15 pm.

PARKING

State Park Entry Your Monte Sano State Park entry fee is complimentary with your registration, however you must present the park pass provided in your race packet to get in or you must pay park entry. Please be sure to present the park pass on your driver side dashboard to make park entry run smooth. If you wait until the fourth and final opportunity to pick up the race packet on race day, you may have to pay to get into Monte Sano State Park. This will be up to the Monte Sano State Park. Pick up your packet early!

There is plenty of parking at The Lodge, Picnic Area and The Hikers Parking Lot. Please do not park on the softball field. This will only upset the park rangers. Think before you park somewhere you should not.

Do not park on the road or in the grass at The Lodge. Use Common Sense!

Mountain Mist 50k Trail Run 2020 Total Cutoff Time/Aid Station Detail

Start to O’shaughnessy Point

5.90 mi 476’ Gain 5.90 miles 1:22:00
Start to Aid Station #1 (13:54 Pace) 476’ (13:54 Pace)

O’Shaughness Point to Bankhead X 6.77 mi 853’ Gain 12.67 miles 3:04:00
Aid Station #1 to #2 (15:04 Pace) 1,329’ (14:31 Pace)

Bankhead X to Oak Park 2.95 mi 112’ Gain 15.62 miles 3:47:00
Aid Station #2 to #3 (14:35 Pace) 1,441’ (14:32Pace)

Oak Park to Old RailRoad Bed 6.05 mi 906’ Gain 21.67 miles 5:32:00
Aid Station #3 to #4 (17:21 Pace) 2,347’ (15:19 Pace)

Old RailRoad Bed to Trough Springs 3.85 mi 784’ Gain 25.52 miles 6:45:00
Aid Station #4 to #5 (18:57 Pace) 3,131’ (15:52 Pace)

Trough Springs to Top of Rest Shelter 4.17 mi 886’ Gain 29.69 miles 8:10:00
Aid Station #5 to #6 (20:23 Pace) 4,017’ (16:30 Pace)

Rest Shelter to Finish 1.57 mi 79’ Gain 31.26 miles 8:36:00
Aid Station #6 to Finish (16:30 Pace) 4,096’ (16:30 Pace)